That will be the abiding September question in the markets, writes Bank of America Merrill Lynch chief investment strategist Michael Hartnett in a note:

Recent market weakness has ironically coincided with stronger economic news in US and China (but not in Europe); our economists believe monetary policy will remain loose in US and Europe; we nonetheless think the era of excess liquidity is coming to an end, so for “buy the dip” to continue to work US and emerging market earnings per share needs to impress, China’s economic momentum needs to continue and, of course, a credit “event” must be avoided.

The 3 main indexes continue to hold modest gains, but they’re still looking at a down week.

S&P 500 -0.7% for week

Dow -0.6% for week

Nasdaq -0.4% for week

The small-cap Russell 2000 is firmly in the green for the week though (+0.7%), bucking the negative trend. That’s certainly a change of pace for the Russell, which is still underperforming the other indexes for 2014 to date.

Shares of Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corp. jumped by more than 21% at one point Friday after the Canadian drug maker said U.S. regulators are moving closer to approving its anti-Ebola drug for use on those infected with the deadly disease.

Tekmira said in a press release late Thursday that the U.S. Food and Drug Administrationverbally confirmed that it has modified the status of the drug TKM-Ebola to a partial clinical hold from a full clinical hold, thus enabling the potential use of the treatment.

Jointly developed with the Pentagon’s medical countermeasures office, TKM-Ebola currently is in Phase 1 testing. Both U.S. and Canadian shares of Tekmira were up nearly 17% in recent action.

A convoy of Israeli tanks drives near the border after returning to Israel from Gaza August 3, 2014

War in Gaza, Russia-Ukraine tensions and U.S. airstrikes on Iraq are some of the geopolitical risks moving the financial markets. MarketWatch has a live stream to filter the latest headlines to keep investors posted on developments from various hotspots.

“The economy is now on track to post its weakest growth in a decade, apart from the 2009 contraction because of the global crisis, and the propensity to save among households is rising on the back of uncertainty and Western sanctions.”

And now for the news we’ve been waiting for all morning: answers to your questions about how Russian sanctions on Norwegian salmon will affect the price of your bagel and lox. MarketWatch’s Victor Reklaitis reports:

“Thanks to new Russian sanctions on Norwegian salmon, prices for the fish could fall by 10% or 12% in Europe but U.S. shoppers shouldn’t expect that same decrease, according to one seafood expert…

While Norwegian producers are likely to send more salmon to the U.S. now that Russia has banned their fish, that additional supply probably won’t lead to lower prices in the U.S. in the next few weeks and months, he said.”

Here’s one from late Thursday, in case you missed it: junk bond mutual funds and ETFs had a record $7.1 billion in outflows during the week ended Wednesday, as the market continues to experience turbulence. There have now been four straight weeks of fund outflows as the market takes a breather from its strong outperformance over the post-crisis years, per Lipper data. At right is a chart showing the drop of an ETF that tracks a high yield bond index.

With junk bonds often serving as a gauge of risk sentiment for equity investors, should stock buyers be nervous? Yahoo! Finance’s Michael Santoli weighs in with a Friday column:

“The support of overly generous credit markets – with the feast on junk bonds at the center – has been maybe the best thing stocks have had going for them. Make no mistake, those markets are still flush and money is still cheap there, with so-called high-yield bonds yielding less than 6% even after this recent purge. This market needs to settle down in order for stocks to put in a reliable bottom.”

The shift in market sentiment is being attributed to a reduction in tensions between Russia and Ukraine, with Russia’s Interfax reportedly saying that Russia ended military exercises near the Ukraine border and have returned to their bases.

Let’s get some MarketWatch readers in on this conversation. Here’s what’s happening in the comments section:

chuck karabin writes ” This is just [a] suckers’ rally. It’ll look good on paper but is not going to last. There will be another leg down when it ends. You play the rally but be nimble so you don’t get trapped”

Says Ernest Terry ” I can’t lose in this market, just throwing darts a blue chips and cha ching no matter what the news or fundamentals are or how many fleas might be on that dog.”

Glenn Cheswick muses “Nice market action going into a weekend full of headline risks is a bullish sign.”

We know you’re focused on the day’s trading action, but here’s some long-term perspective on the market, courtesy of Citi’s Bruce Rolph:

“The next decade is likely to be different than the past three as the interest rate tailwind may become an equity market headwind. While investors and the economy have enjoyed the benefits of lower inflation since the early 1980s and commensurately more affordable debt financing capacity, the future might prove less accommodative. A number of employment data suggest the Fed may have to alter course and even the so-called ‘dot chart’ argues for higher rates down the line than current futures markets highlight.”

The latest Market Snapshot is out, so head over there for MarketWatch’s story on the day’s trading action. A salient quote:

“Equities are likely to trade sideways throughout August and be driven by geopolitical headline news,” said Terry Sandven, chief equity strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management. “From a technical standpoint, it is a good time to add to positions as we do not expect a 10% correction at this point.”

So what’s on the docket for next week? Adrian Miller at GMP Securities suggests that while global warfare should remain a dominant theme, we may see a return to focus on U.S. economic growth, which was on the backburner this week:

“Assuming Russia truly de-escalates Ukraine tensions and the U.S.’s military intervention in Iraq proves limited, we expect a refocus on fundamentals that suggest a steady improvement in U.S. growth, which should see equity prices higher and corporate spreads tighter as work of the demise of the high yield market has been greatly exaggerated “

MarketWatch’s Mark Hulbert has a column out Friday reminding investors how difficult it is to time the market. Here’s an anectore:

Consider what happened to Richard Russell, the renowned editor of the Dow Theory Letters advisory service, in the wake of his almost-perfect sell advice within a day of the bull-market top in August 1987 — two months before the worst single-day crash in U.S. history.

What happened next is telling. As the market battled back, Russell stayed out of stocks — and didn’t get back in until August 1989, when the market was near the same level it had been when he issued his call to sell two years earlier.

Read Hulbert’s full column here. He’s not the only warning against market timing: Chuck Jaffe tells investors “You can read the headlines, just don’t trade on them.”

Zynga Inc. /quotes/zigman/7720406/delayed/quotes/nls/zngaZNGA is one of the day’s big losers, currently down 5.7%. Analysts have been dropping their price targets on the stock left and right. MarketWatch’s Rex Crum writes about one analyst who uses a Willy Wonky quote to describe what’s happening over at the social gaming company:

“Everything in this room is eatable, even I’m eatable! But that is called cannibalism, my dear children…frowned upon in most societies.”

Investors on Friday proved that they’ve been a lot more worried about Ukraine and the potential for a deeper conflict between the West and Russia than they are about fresh U.S. military action in Iraq.

Stocks finish the Friday session and the week on a strong note, with the S&P 500 and Dow posting their biggest one-day point and percentage gains since March 4. The major indexes all see weekly gains as Ukraine fears moved to the back burner.

S&P 500 — up 22.01 points, or 1.2%, at 1,931.59. For the week, the S&P rises 0.3%.

DJIA — up 185.66, or 1.1%, at 16,553.93. That leaves the Dow up 0.4% for the week after two consecutive weekly losses.

Nasdaq Composite — up 35.93, or 0.8%, to 4,370.90, booking a 0.4% gain for the week.

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The Tell is MarketWatch’s fast and engaging look at trends and themes in the day’s markets. Drawing on our reporters, analysts and commentators around the world, as well as selecting the best of the rest online, The Tell is all about the pulse of the markets through news, insight and strategic information to help you make the best investing decisions. Got a tip? Tell us at TheTell@MarketWatch.com